Tiered digital content recording

ABSTRACT

A digital content recording network controller device determines a first content of a set of content to be more likely to be requested by a user of a content access device than a second content of the set of content based on monitored behavior of the user. The device stores the first content in a first storage device of a tiered group of storage devices and stores the second content in a second storage device of the tiered group of storage devices wherein the content access device is located closer to the first storage device than the second storage device. This balances storage load with accessibility, resulting in a faster responding system that does not require as much storage.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a nonprovisional patent application of and claimsthe benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/558,888, filedSep. 15, 2017 and titled “Tiered Digital Content Recording,” thedisclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

FIELD

The described embodiments relate generally to digital video or othercontent recorders. More particularly, the present embodiments relate toa tiered digital content recording network that manages storage based onmonitored user behavior.

BACKGROUND

Users may use content access devices such as set top boxes, televisions,computing devices, and so on to access a variety of different instancesof content from various content provider networks. This content mayinclude video content, audio content, image content, data content, andso on. In some situations, the content may be part of a linearbroadcast. In other situations, the content may be provided upon requestand/or in various non-linear ways.

The content access device may be configured to perform various digitalvideo (or other content) recording (DVR) functions. In short, thecontent access device may store received content so that the content isavailable to the user at a later time, particularly linear broadcastcontent that a user may miss if the user is not watching at a scheduledbroadcast time.

The content access device may have a limited storage capacity. As such,the content access device may be able to store a limited amount ofcontent for the user. If storage is full, stored content may need to bedeleted before additional content can be stored.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure relates to tiered digital content recording.Digital content is recorded for a user of a content access device in atiered group of storage devices. The storage is managed based onmonitored behavior of the user so that recordings more likely to beaccessed are more quickly accessible whereas recordings less likely tobe accessed are less quickly accessible. This balances storage load withaccessibility, resulting in a faster responding system that does notrequire as much storage.

In various implementations, a digital content recording network includesa tiered group of storage devices and a controller, communicably coupledto the tiered group of storage devices, that manages storage of a set ofcontent in the tiered group of storage devices based on monitoredbehavior of a user of a content access device. The controller determinesa first content of the set of content to be a higher priority for theuser than a second content of the set of content based on the monitoredbehavior and directs storage of the first content in a first storagedevice of the tiered group of storage devices and the second content ina second storage device of the tiered group of storage devices that isless quickly accessible to the content access device than the firststorage device.

In some examples, the controller determines to move at least some of thestored content within the tiered group of storage devices based at leaston the monitored behavior. In various cases of such examples, thecontroller moves the determined content. In numerous cases of suchexamples, the controller moves a first portion of an instance of thestored content without moving a second portion. In some cases of suchexamples, the controller determines a connection issue prevents movementof the determined content, waits until the connection issue is resolved,and moves the determined content.

In various cases of such examples, the controller determines to move atleast some of the stored content based on a change in the monitoredbehavior of the user or a change in circumstances. In numerous cases ofsuch examples, the controller determines to move at least some of thestored content based on a change in storage capacity.

In some implementations, a digital content recording network controllerdevice includes a non-transitory storage medium that stores instructionsand a processing unit. The processing unit executes the instructionsstored in the non-transitory storage medium to determine a first contentof a set of content to be more likely to be requested by a user of acontent access device than a second content of the set of content basedon monitored behavior of the user, store the first content in a firststorage device of a tiered group of storage devices, and store thesecond content in a second storage device of the tiered group of storagedevices wherein the content access device is located closer to the firststorage device than the second storage device.

In various examples, the tiered group of storage devices includes thecontent access device. In some examples, the processing unit moves aportion of an instance of the stored content once accessed.

In numerous examples, the processing unit determines there is an issuewith an instance of the stored content and corrects the issue duringstorage. In various cases of such an example, the issue is that theinstance of the stored content is incomplete or corrupt. In some casesof such an example, the issue is that at least a portion of the instanceof the stored content has a resolution to be changed.

In various implementations, a method of digital content recordingnetwork interaction includes monitoring content access behavior of auser of a content access device, selecting a set of content to store ina tiered group of storage devices, ranking the set of content based onthe monitored content access behavior of the user and managing storageof the set of content in the tiered group of storage devices such thathigher ranked content of the set of content is stored on storage devicesof the tiered group of storage devices with higher bandwidth connectionsto the content access device than storage devices of the tiered group ofstorage devices storing lower ranked content of the set of content.

In some examples, the method further includes determining to reorder atleast a portion of storage of the set of content. In various cases ofsuch examples, the method further includes reordering the portion ofstorage of the set of content if a priority of the reordering exceeds anetwork load for the reordering. In numerous cases of such examples, themethod further includes reordering the portion of storage of the set ofcontent if sufficient network bandwidth is available for the reordering.

In various examples, selecting the set of content includes automaticallyselecting the set of content for the user. In some examples, selectingthe set of content includes selecting the set of content in response touser input. In numerous examples, ranking the set of content includesranking the set of content based on the monitored content accessbehavior and a user ranking specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosure will be readily understood by the following detaileddescription in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein likereference numerals designate like structural elements.

FIG. 1 depicts an example of a digital content recording network system.

FIG. 2 depicts the example digital content recording network system ofFIG. 1 after storing content.

FIG. 3 depicts the example digital content recording network system ofFIG. 2 after an example change to the stored content.

FIG. 4A depicts the example digital content recording network system ofFIG. 2 after determining to make an example change to the stored contentthat is prevented by an issue.

FIG. 4B depicts the example digital content recording network system ofFIG. 4A after the issue is resolved.

FIG. 5 depicts a flow chart illustrating a first example method ofdigital content recording network interaction. This first example methodmay be performed by one or more devices of the example digital contentrecording network system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 depicts a flow chart illustrating a second example method ofdigital content recording network interaction. This second examplemethod may be performed by one or more devices of the example digitalcontent recording network system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 depicts a flow chart illustrating a third example method ofdigital content recording network interaction. This third example methodmay be performed by one or more devices of the example digital contentrecording network system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 depicts a flow chart illustrating a fourth example method ofdigital content recording network interaction. This fourth examplemethod may be performed by one or more devices of the example digitalcontent recording network system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 depicts a flow chart illustrating a fifth example method ofdigital content recording network interaction. This fifth example methodmay be performed by one or more devices of the example digital contentrecording network system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 10 depicts a flow chart illustrating a sixth example method ofdigital content recording network interaction. This sixth example methodmay be performed by one or more devices of the example digital contentrecording network system of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to representative embodimentsillustrated in the accompanying drawings. It should be understood thatthe following descriptions are not intended to limit the embodiments toone preferred embodiment. To the contrary, it is intended to coveralternatives, modifications, and equivalents as can be included withinthe spirit and scope of the described embodiments as defined by theappended claims.

The description that follows includes sample systems, methods, andcomputer program products that embody various elements of the presentdisclosure. However, it should be understood that the describeddisclosure may be practiced in a variety of forms in addition to thosedescribed herein.

The following disclosure relates to tiered digital content recording.Digital content is recorded for a user of a content access device in atiered group of storage devices. The storage is managed based onmonitored behavior of the user so that recordings more likely to beaccessed are more quickly accessible whereas recordings less likely tobe accessed are less quickly accessible. This balances storage load withaccessibility, resulting in a faster responding system that does notrequire as much storage.

The monitored behavior may track and/or correlate any kind of userbehavior with respect to content access, characteristics of the contentaccessed, aspects of the situation in which the user accesses, and soon. This may include the content that is accessed, the user who accessesthe content, an access time, an access location, a device used toaccess, a type of the content accessed, a category of the contentaccessed, a series to which the content belongs, an event associatedwith a time period of the access, social media activity of the user,social media activity of the user's contacts, and/or any other aspect ofthe user, the content, and/or the situation in which the access occurs.

The storage may be managed by moving (or reordering) one or morerecordings after initial storage. This may be performed periodically,upon expiration of various intervals, upon the occurrence of variousevents, in response to changing conditions or storage availability,and/or various other conditions or events. For example, movement may beperformed if the capacity of a storage device is determined to befilling up, such as where a free space warning threshold is reached.Movement may be all or part of a recording. In some cases, movement mayonly be performed if a priority of the move exceeds a network load forthe move, if network traffic is below a threshold, and/or if a networkconnection otherwise allows for the movement.

Storage or movement of a recording may not be possible when attempteddue to various issues. These may include device availability, storagecapacity, network connection disruption, and/or various other conditionsthat may prevent storage or movement. In some implementations, adetermination may be made that an issue prevents a determined storage ormovement of content and the storage or movement may thus be delayeduntil the issue is resolved. In some cases of such implementations, theissue may be monitored continuously, periodically, or at variousintervals or times to determine when the issue is resolved. In variouscases of such implementations, various actions may be taken to resolvethe issue, such as rerouting network connections, freeing up storagespace, and so on.

Recordings may be analyzed after storage and may be determined to becorrupt, incomplete, and/or to otherwise have an issue of some kind. Forexample, content may be determined to be missing one or more portions,include a mixture of different resolutions that may not be renderedoptimally when presented, utilize too much storage space, include one ormore portions that are not presentable, and so on. In variousimplementations, an attempt may be made to fix stored content determinedto have an issue. Missing portions may be replaced, non-uniform content(such as content including a mix of different resolutions) may be mademore uniform, various actions may be performed to change storage spaceused (such as by changing the resolution of one or more portions,deleting portions, and so on), and/or various other actions may beperformed to correct detected issues. In some cases, various portions ofstored content may be replaced with versions of the stored contentlocated elsewhere in a content provider network, on content accessdevices of other users, and so on.

In some implementations, partial content may be stored rather than theentirety, or part of the entirety of stored content may later be movedor deleted. For example, the first five minutes of a video may berecorded rather than the entirety of the video. This may use lessstorage space than the entire video. Should the user access the video,the recording of the first five minutes may provide sufficient time toobtain the rest of the video without the user noticing. This may balanceaccessibility with storage requirements.

In various cases, “partial” may include low resolution versions, such aswhere the first three minutes of a video are stored at full quality andthe next ten are stored at a lower quality but are replaced while thefirst three minutes are presented. Should replacement not be possible intime, the lower quality version may still be presented. This furtherbalances accessibility, storage requirements, and content quality.

These and other embodiments are discussed below with reference to FIGS.1-10. However, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that thedetailed description given herein with respect to these Figures is forexplanatory purposes only and should not be construed as limiting.

FIG. 1 depicts an example of a digital content recording network system100. The digital content recording network system 100 includes one ormore content provider network devices 101 connected to tiered storage104 and one or more content access devices 102 via one or more networks103. The content provider network device 101 and/or another controllermay be operable to store content for a user of the content access device102 in the tiered storage 104 based on monitored behavior of the user ofthe content access device 102. This may balance storage load withaccessibility, resulting in a faster responding system that does notrequire as much storage.

The tiered storage 104 may include various storage devices that are morequickly accessible to the content access device 102 than other storagedevices. For example, a first level of the tiered storage 104 may belocated closer to the content access device 102 than a second level(such as examples where a first level is located in the same city as thecontent access device 102, a second level is located in the same stateas the content access device 102, and a third level is located at aremote central data facility in the same country as the content accessdevice 102), resulting in content stored by the first level being morequickly accessible than that stored by the second level. By way ofanother example, a first level may be connected to the content accessdevice by a faster and/or higher bandwidth network connection than asecond level. The tiered storage 104 is illustrated in FIG. 1 asincluding three main levels, one or more first tier servers 105, one ormore second tier servers 106, and/or one or more third tier servers 107.The first tier server 105, second tier server 106, and third tier server107 may all be connected to the content provider network device 101and/or the content access device 102 via the network(s) 103. Contentstored by the first tier server 105 may be accessed quickest of thethree by the content access device 102, followed by the second tierserver 106 and then the third tier server 107. The tiered storage 104may also include storage of the content provider network device 101(which may be less quickly accessed than the first tier server 105, thesecond tier server 106, and the third tier server 107), storage of thecontent access device 102 (which may be more quickly accessed than thefirst tier server 105, the second tier server 106, and the third tierserver 107), one or more outside servers 108 that provide storageoutside of the content provider network, and so on. Regardless of thestructure of the tiered storage 104, the content provider network device101 and/or another controller may use the tiered storage 104 based onmonitored behavior of the user of the content access device 102 to storecontent in a manner that balances storage load with accessibility.

The content provider network device 101 may include one or moreprocessing units 109 (or processors), one or more non-transitory storagemedia 110 (which may take the form of, but is not limited to, a magneticstorage medium; optical storage medium; magneto-optical storage medium;read only memory; random access memory; erasable programmable memory;flash memory; and so on), one or more communication components 111,and/or other components. The processing unit 109 may execute one or moresets of instructions stored in the non-transitory storage medium 110 toperform one or more content provider network device functions, such asproviding linear or non-linear content to the content access device 102,managing storage of content in the tiered storage 104, monitoringbehavior of one or more users of the content access device(s) 102,communicating with the tiered storage 104 and/or the content accessdevice 102 via the communication component 111, and so on.

Similarly, the content access device 102 may include one or moreprocessing units 112 (or processors), one or more non-transitory storagemedia 113, one or more communication components 114, one or more userinterface components 115 (such as one or more displays, speakers,printers, microphones, keyboards, touch screens, remote control devices,and so on), and/or other components. The processing unit 112 may executeone or more sets of instructions stored in the non-transitory storagemedium 113 to perform one or more content access device functions, suchas requesting or otherwise accessing content, presenting receivedcontent, and so on.

The tiered storage 104 and/or the interaction between the tiered storage104 and the content provider network device 101 and/or the contentaccess device 102 may allow the digital content recording network system100 to perform a variety of different functions that a content storagesystem (such as a DVR that stores all recorded content locally) cannotperform, or cannot perform as efficiently. As discussed above, this mayallow the digital content recording network system 100 to store contentin a manner that balances storage load with accessibility. It may alsoenable monitoring of user behavior and taking of such user behavior intoaccount for content storage decisions. Further, it may enable networkproblems to be responded to that could otherwise prevent storage.Additionally, correction of issues with stored content may be possible.Various features and improvements may be made possible.

FIG. 2 depicts the example digital content recording network system 100of FIG. 1 after storing content. A Content A 221 may be stored in thenon-transitory storage medium 113 of the content access device 102, aContent B 222 may be stored in the third tier server 107, a Content C223 may be stored in the second tier server 106, a Content D 224 may bestored in the first tier server 105, a Content E 225 may be stored inthe non-transitory storage medium 110 of the content provider networkdevice 101, and a Content F 226 may be stored in the outside server 108.

The content provider network device 101 and/or another controller mayhave selected the Content A 221, Content B 222, Content C 223, Content D224, Content E 225, and Content F 226 based on monitored user behavior,user requests to record content, and so on. The content provider networkdevice 101 and/or another controller may also have selected therespective locations to record/store such content based on monitoreduser behavior, user requests to record content, available storage space,and so on.

For example, Content A 221 may have been specifically requested forrecordation by the user. As Content A 221 was specifically requested,Content A 221 may be stored in the non-transitory storage medium 113 ofthe content access device 102 where it is most quickly accessible to thecontent access device 102.

By way of another example, Content D 224 may be a football game, ContentC 223 may be a movie, and Content B 222 may be an episode of a policedrama television show. Monitored user behavior may indicate that theuser is likely to access all three, but that it is fall and the userwatches more football than anything else in the fall. As such, Content D224 may be stored in the first tier server 105 where it is more quicklyaccessible than Content B 222 and Content C 223. The monitored userbehavior may indicate that the user is next likely to access Content C223 followed by Content B 222. As such, Content C 223 may be stored inthe second tier server 106 where it is next most quickly accessible,followed by Content B 222 stored in the third tier server 107.

Content B 222, Content C 223, and Content D 224 may not have beenspecifically requested by the user. Instead, the content providernetwork device 101 and/or another controller may have decided based onthe monitored user behavior that the user was likely to request them,and thus to store them.

By way of still another example, the content provider network device 101and/or another controller may determine that Content E 225 is apopularly requested game show by many users even if the monitoredbehavior information does not indicate a high likelihood that the userwill request it. As such, Content E 225 may be stored in thenon-transitory storage medium 110 of the content provider network device101 where it is still reasonably accessible to the content access device102 but does not consume available storage of storage devices that canprovide content more quickly to the content access device 102.

In yet another example, the content provider network device 101 and/oranother controller may make a variety of movies available that themonitored behavior information does not indicate the user will likelyrequest, but still may. Thus, such movies, which may include Content F226, may be stored on one or more outside servers 108 that provide alarge amount of available storage space but may not respond to requestsas quickly as other storage devices in the tiered storage 104. Variousconfigurations are possible and contemplated.

In various implementations, the content that is stored and/or thelocations of stored content may be changed. This may be changes based onchanged in circumstances, changes in the monitored user behavior,changes in available storage, changes in available content, and/or anyother factor that may affect how and/or what is stored.

For example, FIG. 3 depicts the example digital content recordingnetwork system 100 of FIG. 2 after an example change to the storedcontent. In this example, the user may have accessed Content A 221,which may therefore have been removed from the non-transitory storagemedium 113. The access of Content A 221 may also have altered themonitored user behavior such that it is determined that it is much morelikely that the user will request Content F 226. As such, Content F 226may have been moved into the space in the non-transitory storage medium113 made available by deleting Content A 221.

In some implementations, the content provider network device 101 orother controller may determine to move or reorder content and determinethat there is an issue preventing such a move. For example, FIG. 4Adepicts the example digital content recording network system 100 of FIG.2 after determining to make an example change to the stored content thatis prevented by an issue. The user may have watched a different episodeof the same police drama television show corresponding to Content B 222.This may indicate that the user is more likely to request Content B 222than Content C 223 and their storage locations should be switched.However, network links to the third tier server 107 may be down. Thismay prevent moving of Content B 222 from the third tier server 107 andmoving of Content C 223 to the third tier server 107.

In response, the content provider network device 101 or other controllermay monitor the network links to the third tier server 107 until themovements can be performed. FIG. 4B depicts the example digital contentrecording network system 100 of FIG. 4A after the issue is resolved. Nowthat the network links are again available, Content B 222 has been movedfrom the third tier server 107 to the second tier server 106. Similarly,Content C 223 has been moved from the second tier server 106 to thethird tier server 107.

The above illustrates and describes selecting and/or storing contentbased on the monitored user behavior of a user of the content accessdevice 102. However, in various examples, the storage outside of thecontent access device 102 may be for one or more users of one or morecontent access devices 102. In such a case, the storage may be based onmonitored user behavior of the multiple users that balances availabilitywith available storage for multiple users and content access devices 102as opposed to only one. Various configurations are possible andcontemplated.

And, though such an implementation may not optimize storage for aparticular content access device 102, content stored by other contentaccess devices 102 may be available to the content access device 102.This may be more quickly accessed than other storage devices in thetiered storage 104 and may make some content available (such as toreplace content that has become corrupt, failed to record, and so on)that would otherwise be unavailable for access.

Additionally, although the above illustrates and describes differentlevels of the tiered storage 104 as different storage devices, it isunderstood that this is an example. In various implementations,different levels of storage could be included in a single storagedevice. For example, a storage device may include a faster drive and aslower drive. Higher priority content may be stored on the faster drivewhereas the slower drive may be used to store lower priority content.Various configurations are possible and contemplated.

The above discussed content may be various different kinds of content invarious implementations. Content may include video content, audiocontent, image content, data content, and/or any other kind of content.

The content access device 102 may be any kind of electronic deviceoperable to access content. This may include laptop computing devices,desktop computing devices, mobile computing devices, tablet computingdevices, wearable devices, smart phones, digital media players, set topboxes, cellular telephones, and so on. Similarly, the content providernetwork device 101 and/or the first tier server 105, the second tierserver 106, and/or the third tier server 107 may be implemented as anykind of suitable electronic device.

It is understood that the above are for the purposes of example. Invarious implementations, one or more of the above techniques may beutilized in a variety of different systems and devices in a variety ofdifferent combinations. Numerous combinations are possible andcontemplated.

For example, in some embodiments, a digital content recording network(such as the example digital content recording network system 100 ofFIG. 1) may include a tiered group of storage devices and a controller,communicably coupled to the tiered group of storage devices, thatmanages storage of a set of content in the tiered group of storagedevices based on monitored behavior of a user of a content accessdevice. The controller may determine a first content of the set to be ahigher priority for the user than a second content of the set of contentbased on the monitored behavior and direct storage of the first contentin a first storage device of the tiered group of storage devices and thesecond content in a second storage device of the tiered group of storagedevices that is less quickly accessible to the content access devicethan the first storage device.

In various implementations, the controller may determine to move atleast some of the stored content within the tiered group of storagedevices based at least on the monitored behavior. In some examples, thecontroller may move the determined content. In numerous examples, thecontroller may move a first portion of an instance of the stored contentwithout moving a second portion. In various examples, the controller maydetermine a connection issue prevents movement of the determinedcontent, wait until the connection issue is resolved, and move thedetermined content. In some examples, the controller may determine tomove at least some of the stored content based on a change in themonitored behavior of the user or a change in circumstances. In numerousexamples, the controller may determine to move at least some of thestored content based on a change in storage capacity.

In various embodiments, a digital content recording network controllerdevice may be operable to determine a first content of a set of contentto be more likely to be requested by a user of a content access devicethan a second content of the set of content based on monitored behaviorof the user, store the first content in a first storage device of atiered group of storage devices, and store the second content in asecond storage device of the tiered group of storage devices wherein thecontent access device is located closer to the first storage device thanthe second storage device. In some examples, the digital contentrecording network controller device may be one or more devices of theexample digital content recording network system 100 of FIG. 1.

In some implementations, the tiered group of storage devices may includethe content access device. In numerous implementations, the digitalcontent recording network controller device may move a portion of aninstance of the stored content once accessed.

In various implementations, the digital content recording networkcontroller device may determine there is an issue with an instance ofthe stored content and correct the issue during storage. In someexamples, the issue may be that the instance of the stored content isincomplete or corrupt. In various examples, the issue may be that atleast a portion of the instance of the stored content has a resolutionto be changed.

In numerous embodiments, a method of digital content recording networkinteraction may be provided. In some implementations, the method may beperformed by one or more devices of the example digital contentrecording network system 100 of FIG. 1. The method may includemonitoring content access behavior of a user of a content access device,selecting a set of content to store in a tiered group of storagedevices, ranking the set of content based on the monitored contentaccess behavior of the user, and managing storage of the set of contentin the tiered group of storage devices such that higher ranked contentof the set of content is stored on storage devices of the tiered groupof storage devices with higher bandwidth connections to the contentaccess device than storage devices of the tiered group of storagedevices storing lower ranked content of the set of content.

In various implementations, the method may further include determiningto reorder at least a portion of storage of the set of content. Innumerous examples of such implementations, the method may furtherinclude reordering the portion of storage of the set of content if apriority of the reordering exceeds a network load for the reordering. Insome examples of such implementations, the method may further includereordering the portion of storage of the set of content if sufficientnetwork bandwidth is available for the reordering.

In numerous implementations, the operation of selecting the set ofcontent may include automatically selecting the set of content for theuser. In various implementations, the operation of selecting the set ofcontent may include selecting the set of content in response to userinput. In some implementations, the operation of ranking the set ofcontent includes ranking the set of content based on the monitoredcontent access behavior and a user ranking specification.

FIG. 5 depicts a flow chart illustrating a first example method 500 ofdigital content recording network interaction. This first example method500 may be performed by one or more devices of the example digitalcontent recording network system 100 of FIG. 1.

The flow begins at 510 where a device operates. The device may be acomputing device operable to manage storage of content for the user of acontent access device in a content provider network. The flow thenproceeds to 520 where the device determines priorities for content basedon monitored user behavior. Next, the flow proceeds to 530 where thedevice directs storage of the content in a tiered storage system. Thedevice directs storage such that higher priority content is stored instorage devices that are more quickly accessible to the content accessdevice. Similarly, the device directs storage such that lower prioritycontent is stored in storage devices that are less quickly accessible tothe content access device.

However, content priorities determined based on monitored user behaviormay change. Determined content priorities may change because the user ismonitored performing different behavior than when previously observed.Determined content priorities may also change based on changes incurrent circumstances (such as where the user is more likely to accessfootball content during the fall and the seasons have changed fromsummer to fall). Determined content priorities may also change based onother factors, such as the availability of new content, changes instorage capacities of storage devices, receipt of user requests to storeand/or how to store content, and/or any other factors that impactoptimal ways to balance user desired content availability, hardware andsoftware resources, access speed, and so on.

As such, the flow proceeds to 540 where the device determines whether ornot to update the determined content priorities. If so, the flow returnsto 520 where the device re-determines the priorities before the flowreturns to 530 and the device reorders storage. Otherwise, the flowreturns to 540 where the device again determines whether or not toupdate the determined content priorities.

Although the first example method 500 is illustrated and described asincluding particular operations performed in a particular order, it isunderstood that this is an example. In various implementations, variousorders of the same, similar, and/or different operations may beperformed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

For example, the first example method 500 is illustrated and describedas prioritizing and storing an entire group of content at a time.However, this is for the purposes of simplicity and clarity. In variousimplementations, any set or subset of content, including a singleinstance of content, may be prioritized, reprioritized, stored, moved,and so on without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 depicts a flow chart illustrating a second example method 600 ofdigital content recording network interaction. This second examplemethod 600 may be performed by one or more devices of the exampledigital content recording network system 100 of FIG. 1.

The flow begins at 610 where a device operates. The device may be acomputing device operable to manage storage of content for the user of acontent access device in a content provider network. The flow thenproceeds to 620 where the device determines content more likely to berequested and/or otherwise accessed by the user of a content accessdevice than other content. Next, the flow proceeds to 630 where thedevice stores content more likely to be requested in storage devices oftiered storage that are closer to the content access device. The flowthen proceeds to 640 where the device stores content less likely to berequested in storage devices of the tiered storage that are further awaythe content access device.

Next, the flow proceeds to 650 where the device determines whether ornot to review the determined likelihoods for request or other access ofany of the content. If so, the flow returns to 620 where the devicerevisits the likelihood and/or modifies any storage locationsaccordingly. Otherwise, the flow returns to 650 where the device againdetermines whether or not to review the determined likelihoods forrequest or other access of any of the content.

Although the second example method 600 is illustrated and described asincluding particular operations performed in a particular order, it isunderstood that this is an example. In various implementations, variousorders of the same, similar, and/or different operations may beperformed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

For example, the second example method 600 is illustrated and describedas storing content more likely and less likely to be requested. However,it is understood that this is for the purposes of clarity andsimplicity. In various implementations, any number of different levelsof likelihood (and/or storage locations) may be analyzed according toany number of different procedures or evaluation metrics withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure.

Further, the second example method 600 is illustrated and described asthe device storing the content. However, in various implementations, thedevice may be a controller operable to direct storage of the content inone or more other devices communicably connected to the controller.Various system configurations are possible and contemplated.

FIG. 7 depicts a flow chart illustrating a third example method 700 ofdigital content recording network interaction. This third example method700 may be performed by one or more devices of the example digitalcontent recording network system 100 of FIG. 1.

The flow begins at 710 where a device operates. The device may be acomputing device operable to manage storage of content for the user of acontent access device in a content provider network. The flow thenproceeds to 720 where the device monitors content access behaviorperformed by the user of a content access device. Monitoring contentaccess behavior may include monitoring any aspect of the user's behaviorand/or the situation in which the behavior occurs. For example, themonitoring may include observing and recording information regardingaccessed content, interfaces encountered, content offered that was notaccessed, content accessed rather than other content offered,interaction with content during presentation (such as stopping,starting, pausing, fast forwarding, rewinding, switching to othercontent, recording, and so on), recording instructions, access times,access locations, devices used to access, user identifiers, social mediaactivity related to the access, events occurring at the time of access(such as sporting tournaments, weather conditions, emergencies, breakingnews, and so on), and/or any other aspect of content access behaviorand/or the context in which such behavior occurs. The flow may thenproceed to 730.

At 730, the device selects a content set to store in tiered storage. Thecontent set may be selected based on user recording instructions,content determined to be recorded based on the monitored content accessbehavior, a mixture thereof, and/or any other factors relating tocontent set selection. The flow then proceeds to 740 where the deviceranks the content set based on the monitored content access behavior.

Next, the flow proceeds to 750 where the device manages storage of thecontent set in tiered storage based on the ranking. The flow thenproceeds to 760 where the device determines whether or not to modify therankings (and/or the content set, the storage of the content set, and soon). If so, the flow returns to 740 where the device modifiesaccordingly. Otherwise, the flow returns to 710 where the devicecontinues to operate.

Although the third example method 700 is illustrated and described asincluding particular operations performed in a particular order, it isunderstood that this is an example. In various implementations, variousorders of the same, similar, and/or different operations may beperformed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

For example, the third example method 700 is illustrated and describedas returning to 740 after determining to modify. However, if the devicedetermines at 760 to modify the content set, the flow may instead returnto 730 where the device modifies the content set.

Further, the third example method 700 is illustrated and described asmonitoring the content access behavior at 720 before selecting contentto include in a content set. However, it is understood that this is forthe purposes of simplicity and clarity. In various implementations, thecontent access behavior may be monitored continuously, periodically,and/or on various other kinds of schedules. Numerous configurations arepossible and contemplated.

FIG. 8 depicts a flow chart illustrating a fourth example method 800 ofdigital content recording network interaction. This fourth examplemethod 800 may be performed by one or more devices of the exampledigital content recording network system 100 of FIG. 1.

The flow begins at 810 where a device operates. The device may be acomputing device operable to manage storage of content in tiered storagefor the user of a content access device in a content provider network.

The flow proceeds to 820 where the device determines whether or not tomove content around within the tiered storage. This may include copyingor moving content to a higher level in the tiered storage, copying ormoving content to a lower level in the tiered storage, copying or movingcontent to the device, copying or moving content to the content accessdevice, deleting stored content, deleting or moving part of storedcontent, replacing stored all or part of stored content with anotherversion (such as with a higher or lower resolution version), and so on.If so, the flow proceeds to 830. Otherwise, the flow returns to 810where the device continues to operate.

At 830, the device determines whether or not there is a connection issuethat prevents the determined move of the content within the tieredstorage. Such connection issues may include network connection linksthat are down or otherwise unusable (such as overburdened), devices thatare unable to respond (such as devices that are down or overburdened),and/or any other conditions that prevent the determined move of thecontent within the tiered storage. If not, the flow proceeds to 840where the device performs the move before the flow returns to 810 andthe device continues to operate. Otherwise, the flow proceeds to 850.

At 850, after the device determines there is a connection issue thatprevents the determined move of the content within the tiered storage,the device waits for the issue to resolve. The flow may then return to830 where the device determines whether or not the issue remains.

Although the fourth example method 800 is illustrated and described asincluding particular operations performed in a particular order, it isunderstood that this is an example. In various implementations, variousorders of the same, similar, and/or different operations may beperformed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

For example, the fourth example method 800 is illustrated and describedas waiting for the issue to be resolved. However, in variousimplementations, the device may attempt to fix or correct the issue,wait only until the expiration of a timeout until determining the movecannot be made, attempt to perform an alternate move (such as moving toa higher or lower tier of the tiered storage when the selected one isunavailable), and/or may respond to the issue in various other ways.

FIG. 9 depicts a flow chart illustrating a fifth example method 900 ofdigital content recording network interaction. This fifth example method900 may be performed by one or more devices of the example digitalcontent recording network system 100 of FIG. 1.

The flow begins at 910 where a device operates. The device may be acomputing device operable to manage storage of content for the user of acontent access device in a content provider network. The flow thenproceeds to 920 where the device determines whether or not there is anissue with content stored in tiered storage. If so, the flow proceeds to930 where the device corrects the issue with the content before the flowproceeds to 910 and the device continues to operate. Otherwise, the flowdirectly returns to 910.

The issue with the stored content may be any variety of issues. Forexample, the issue may be that the stored content is incomplete andcorrecting the issue may include obtaining and storing portions of thecontent to add in one or more incomplete portions. By way of anotherexample, the issue may be that the stored content or a portion thereofis corrupt and/or otherwise non-presentable (such as requiring adifferent renderer than is available to a content access device) andcorrecting the issue may include replacing the stored content or theportion thereof with a version that is not corrupt. By way of stillanother example, the issue may be related to resolution of the content(such as where the content has a lower than desired resolution, a higherthan desired resolution, a mixed resolution where a uniform resolutionis desired, a uniform resolution where a mixed resolution is desired)and correcting the issue may involve replacing one or more portions ofthe content with a version that does not suffer from the issue. In yetanother example, the issue may be that the content is occupying too muchof limited available storage and correcting may include deleting all ora portion of the content and/or replacing all or a portion of thecontent with a version that occupies less storage space. Varioussituations are possible and contemplated.

Although the fifth example method 900 is illustrated and described asincluding particular operations performed in a particular order, it isunderstood that this is an example. In various implementations, variousorders of the same, similar, and/or different operations may beperformed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

For example, the fifth example method 900 is illustrated and describedas determining there is an issue and correcting the issue. However, invarious examples, the device itself may not be able to correct theissue. Instead, the device may act by requesting another device tocorrect the issue, notifying a user or other entity, and so on.

FIG. 10 depicts a flow chart illustrating a sixth example method 1000 ofdigital content recording network interaction. This sixth example method1000 may be performed by one or more devices of the example digitalcontent recording network system 100 of FIG. 1.

The flow begins at 1010 where a device operates. The device may be acomputing device operable to manage storage of content for the user of acontent access device in a content provider network. The flow thenproceeds to 1020 where the device determines whether or not reorderingof content stored in tiered storage is desirable. If so, the flowproceeds to 1030. Otherwise, the flow returns to 1010 where the devicecontinues to operate.

The device may determine that reordering of content stored in tieredstorage is desirable based on any number of different conditions. Suchconditions may include changes in monitored user behavior that affectwhether or not content is stored and/or where in the tiered storage thecontent is stored, changes in a current situation related to monitoreduser behavior, the availability of new content, changes in storagecapacity, the addition of new storage devices, the removal and/ornon-availability of storage devices, and/or any other conditions thatmay relate to what content is stored where in the tiered storage.

At 1030, after the device determines that reordering of content storedin the tiered storage is desirable, the device determines whether or notone or more networks connected to the device and/or the tiered storagepermits the reordering. If so, at 1040 the device reorders. Otherwise,the flow returns to 1010 and the device continues to operate.

The device may determine that the network permits the reordering basedon a variety of different conditions. For example, the device maydetermine whether or not sufficient network bandwidth is currentlyavailable, whether the current available network bandwidth would notcause the reordering to adversely impact user content access, and so on.In such an example, the device may only perform the reordering ifsufficient network bandwidth is available for the reordering such thatthe reordering would not adversely impact user content access.

In other examples, the device may weigh network bandwidth against apriority or ranking of the reordering. For example, the device mayperform high priority reordering when less network bandwidth isavailable but may wait until more network bandwidth is available toperform lower priority reordering.

In still other examples, the reordering may be performed across leasednetwork connections. In such cases, the priority of reordering may beweighed against the cost of using the leased network connection. Thereordering may be performed only if the priority justifies the expense.

Although the sixth example method 1000 is illustrated and described asincluding particular operations performed in a particular order, it isunderstood that this is an example. In various implementations, variousorders of the same, similar, and/or different operations may beperformed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

For example, the sixth example method 1000 is illustrated and describedas only reordering if the network permits. However, in variousimplementations, such a determination may be omitted. Instead, thedevice may perform reordering whenever determining that reordering isdesirable.

As described above and illustrated in the accompanying figures, thepresent disclosure relates to tiered digital content recording. Digitalcontent is recorded for a user of a content access device in a tieredgroup of storage devices. The storage is managed based on monitoredbehavior of the user so that recordings more likely to be accessed aremore quickly accessible whereas recordings less likely to be accessedare less quickly accessible. This balances storage load withaccessibility, resulting in a faster responding system that does notrequire as much storage.

In the present disclosure, the methods disclosed may be implemented assets of instructions or software readable by a device. Further, it isunderstood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methodsdisclosed are examples of sample approaches. In other embodiments, thespecific order or hierarchy of steps in the method can be rearrangedwhile remaining within the disclosed subject matter. The accompanyingmethod claims present elements of the various steps in a sample order,and are not necessarily meant to be limited to the specific order orhierarchy presented.

The described disclosure may be provided as a computer program product,or software, that may include a non-transitory machine-readable mediumhaving stored thereon instructions, which may be used to program acomputer system (or other electronic devices) to perform a processaccording to the present disclosure. A non-transitory machine-readablemedium includes any mechanism for storing information in a form (e.g.,software, processing application) readable by a machine (e.g., acomputer). The non-transitory machine-readable medium may take the formof, but is not limited to, a magnetic storage medium (e.g., floppydiskette, video cassette, and so on); optical storage medium (e.g.,CD-ROM); magneto-optical storage medium; read only memory (ROM); randomaccess memory (RAM); erasable programmable memory (e.g., EPROM andEEPROM); flash memory; and so on.

The foregoing description, for purposes of explanation, used specificnomenclature to provide a thorough understanding of the describedembodiments. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art thatthe specific details are not required in order to practice the describedembodiments. Thus, the foregoing descriptions of the specificembodiments described herein are presented for purposes of illustrationand description. They are not targeted to be exhaustive or to limit theembodiments to the precise forms disclosed. It will be apparent to oneof ordinary skill in the art that many modifications and variations arepossible in view of the above teachings.

What is claimed is:
 1. A digital content recording network, comprising:a tiered group of storage devices; and at least one controller,communicably coupled to the tiered group of storage devices, that:manages storage of a set of content in the tiered group of storagedevices based on monitored behavior of a user of a content accessdevice; wherein the at least one controller: makes a determination thata first content of the set of content is a higher priority for the userthan a second content of the set of content, based on the monitoredbehavior, the determination made solely with respect to the user;controls storage of the first content in a first storage device of thetiered group of storage devices and the second content in a secondstorage device of the tiered group of storage devices that is lessquickly accessible to the content access device than the first storagedevice, the storage controlled based on the determination made solelywith respect to the user; determines at least some of the set of contentwithin the tiered group of storage devices is to be moved; and when apriority assigned to moving the at least some of the set of contentexceeds a network load to which the moving will subject a network, movesthe at least some of the set of content.
 2. The digital contentrecording network of claim 1, wherein the at least one controllerdetermines to move the at least some of the set of content within thetiered group of storage devices based at least on the monitoredbehavior.
 3. The digital content recording network of claim 2, whereinthe at least one controller moves the at least some of the set ofcontent within the tiered group of storage devices.
 4. The digitalcontent recording network of claim 2, wherein the at least onecontroller moves a first portion of a single item of content of the atleast some of the set of content without moving a second portion of thesingle item of content of the at least some of the set of content. 5.The digital content recording network of claim 2, wherein the at leastone controller determines to move the at least some of the set ofcontent based on a change in the monitored behavior of the user.
 6. Thedigital content recording network of claim 2, wherein the at least onecontroller determines to move the at least some of the set of contentbased on a change in circumstances.
 7. The digital content recordingnetwork of claim 2, wherein the at least one controller determines tomove the at least some of the set of content based on a change instorage capacity.
 8. A digital content recording network controllerdevice, comprising: a non-transitory storage medium that storesinstructions; and a processor that executes the instructions stored inthe non-transitory storage medium to: make a determination that a firstcontent of a set of content is more likely to be requested by a user ofa content access device than a second content of the set of content,based on monitored behavior of the user, the determination made solelywith respect to the user; control storage of the first content in afirst storage device of a tiered group of storage devices; controlstorage of the second content in a second storage device of the tieredgroup of storage devices, wherein the content access device is locatedcloser to the first storage device than the second storage device, thestorage controlled based on the determination made solely with respectto the user; determine to reorder at least some of the set of contentwithin the tiered group of storage devices; and when a priority assignedto reordering the at least some of the set of content exceeds a networkload to which the reordering will subject a network, move the at leastsome of the set of content.
 9. The digital content recording networkcontroller device of claim 8, wherein the tiered group of storagedevices includes the content access device.
 10. The digital contentrecording network controller device of claim 8, wherein the processormoves only a portion of a single item of content of the set of contentonce accessed.
 11. The digital content recording network controllerdevice of claim 8, wherein the processor: determines there is an issuewith an instance of the set of content; and corrects the issue duringstorage.
 12. The digital content recording network controller device ofclaim 11, wherein the issue is that the instance of the set of contentis incomplete or corrupt.
 13. The digital content recording networkcontroller device of claim 11, wherein the issue is that at least aportion of the instance of the set of content has a resolution to bechanged.
 14. A method of digital content recording network interaction,comprising: monitoring content access behavior of a user of a contentaccess device; selecting a set of content to store in a tiered group ofstorage devices; ranking the set of content using a controller, based onthe monitored content access behavior of the user, the ranking madesolely with respect to the user; using the controller to control storageof the set of content in the tiered group of storage devices such thatthe controller controls storage of higher ranked content of the set ofcontent on storage devices of the tiered group of storage devices withhigher bandwidth connections to the content access device than storagedevices of the tiered group of storage devices that the controllercontrols to store lower ranked content of the set of content, thestorage controlled based on the ranking made solely with respect to theuser; determining to reorder at least a portion of the storage of theset of content; and when a priority assigned to reordering the at leastthe portion of the storage of the set of content exceeds a network loadto which the reordering will subject a network, reordering the at leastthe portion of the storage of the set of content.
 15. The method ofclaim 14, wherein determining to reorder the at least the portion of thestorage of the set of content comprises determining to reorder the atleast the portion of the storage of the set of content based at least onthe content access behavior of the user.
 16. The method of claim 15,further comprising omitting reordering the at least the portion of thestorage of the set of content when the priority assigned to thereordering the at least the portion of the storage of the set of contentdoes not exceed the network load to which the reordering will subjectthe network.
 17. The method of claim 15, further comprising reorderingthe at least the portion of the storage of the set of content ifsufficient network bandwidth is available for the reordering.
 18. Themethod of claim 14, wherein selecting the set of content comprisesautomatically selecting the set of content for the user.
 19. The methodof claim 14, wherein selecting the set of content comprises selectingthe set of content in response to user input.
 20. The method of claim14, wherein ranking the set of content comprises ranking the set ofcontent based on the monitored content access behavior and a userranking specification.